While several competitors have stepped up to fill the void left by Twitter, now “X,” since Elon Musk purchased the platform in the fall of 2022 and began making radical changes. But while Mastodon and BlueSky made waves around that time, the surprise drop of Threads in July was welcome news to many still looking for that Twitter-like magic. Threads is owned by Meta and, for all intents and purposes, looks and feels more like Twitter than anything else. However, it still has some issues...

Registration is now open for the 2024 FGIA Annual Conference, to be held February 19-22 in Amelia Island, FL! This event will feature a very special theme: a tribute to Rich Walker, the former President and CEO of the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) and an industry figure of momentous proportions. The preliminary schedule is now available and is packed with a variety of presentations, panel discussions and hands-on workshops. Numerous committees, councils and task groups will also have an opportunity to meet.After hosting several...

As 2023 comes to a close, it is a good time to make sure you have the current versions of the documents that best serve and help shape our industry. Several important FGIA standards were updated this year in FGIA’s ongoing efforts to keep up with the latest technologies and performance demands. Let’s take a look at a few of these documents, whose 2023 versions are now available in the FGIA Online Store.Click on each document number to read more about what changed from its...

The end of the year is a great time to prepare for the new one, whether that means getting together your editorial calendars or mapping out plans for how you hope to reach your next set of goals. It is also an ideal time to look back on what you did for the last 12 months to see what worked and what didn’t – and where you might choose to focus your energies. This can also mean deciding where it might make sense to spend...

As 2023 comes to an end, it’s a good time to look back at the performance of both the U.S. and Canadian economies this year. Much has happened in both countries, and we might be able to glean some insight into the coming year based on what we’ve seen in the last 12 months. Let’s take a look at the state of the economy in both countries and look forward to 2024.The U.S. Economy TodayDespite strong forecasts early in the year that the U.S. was...

GlassBuild 2023 was an expansive, up-close look at our industry and its innovations! The 20th anniversary featured a rodeo theme – a nod to the location of next year’s show in Dallas. With that theme in mind, I wanted to offer some post-show cowboy wisdom for those planning for next year in Texas.Always drink upstream from the herdWe were all cowboys this year at GlassBuild America 2023! We were committed, worked hard and made a great show happen again! Like a cowboy with a good...

A common piece of advice I give to companies in our industry is often something they don’t always want to hear. Even if you don’t plan on using a specific social media platform, you should still secure your company’s username on it so no one else can. Now, there is a bit of follow-up to this advice: if your company has a Twitter (now “X”) account you’ve snapped up but are not using, begin posting there now. Read on to learn why.In the wake of...

As of September 1, it has officially been one year since the newest FGIA region was created by the Association, a milestone that was celebrated during the recent FGIA FENBC Region Technical Summit held on October 18. It has been a big year for the FENBC Region, full of British Columbia-centric events with speakers and presentations most of interest to those in BC. The region’s leaders have been committed to both residential and commercial knowledge sharing. Let’s take a look back at the previous year...

Many fenestration manufacturers now offer residential windows, sliding glass doors, skylights and tubular daylighting devices (TDDs) that meet new, more rigorous U.S. ENERGY STAR 7.0 specifications. Led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the more stringent residential ENERGY STAR 7.0 program goes into effect October 23, 2023. View the U.S. ENERGY STAR 7.0 specifications for windows, doors and skylights.Fenestration manufacturers seeking to have residential products certified to ENERGY STAR 7.0 will have to meet additional new requirements to comply with the new program, compared...

Almost 10 years ago, the internet stopped what it was doing and watched the Wendy’s corporate Twitter account roast everyone from Burger King to complete strangers. This unexpected yet hilarious behavior from a major corporation sparked the great debate: can brands be fun online?The results were mixed. There were two main schools of thinking: your company could either be traditionally professional on social media, or you could be fun and get attention for your brand. The path you picked depended on a number of factors,...